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Chapter 5 Islam and Constitutionalism in Sudan, Nigeria, and Senegal In this chapter, I attempt to illustrate the contingency of the role of Islam with reference to certain aspects of the recent constitutional experiences of Sudan, Nigeria, and Senegal. While I have argued that evaluation of constitutional experiences should always be context specific, it is also part of my thesis that African countries can learn from the experiences of others, within the continent and beyond. Comparative analysis would be particularly useful in relation to a common factor or variable, like Islam, to see how it operates in different settings. To reiterate once more, I am not claiming that Islam is the sole, or even always the primary, factor in the constitutional development of these or any other countries, Rather, I am examining its association with constitutionalism to see whether it is possible to draw some guidance for a more positive relationship where and to the extent Islam is a relevant factor. Recall also the premise that this relationship should neither be taken for granted nor assumed to be permanent or inevitable because if it is positive at any given time, it can decline, and if it is negative it can still deteriorate further or improve. Using some of the recent constitutional history and context of three countries, this chapter explores whether understanding the role and interaction of the various actors, factors, and processes that shape and influence this relationship can assist in the development of policy interventions and strategies to enhance the incremental success of constitutionalism in African societies where Muslims constitute the majority or a significant minority of the population. Since I am introducing new information on the three countries discussed in this chapter, as well as an analysis of the specific role of Islam in each setting, I first present a brief overview of constitutional developments in each country and highlight an apparently dominant theme or set of issues in that context. I will begin with the case of Sudan as the oldest and most drastic example of the serious implications of the role of Islam among all three countries. The case of Nigeria will be presented next as a variation on the theme of the Sudan case, and Senegal will follow as a different model of the contingent role of Islam. All three cases will Islam and Constitutionalism in Sudan, Nigeria, and Senegal 133 be taken together in a comparative discussion in the last section of the chapter. Sudan: Persistent Constitutional Stalemate The territories now constituting the Republic of Sudan were first unified under a somewhat centralized colonial administration by OttomanEgyptian armies through a gradual process starting in the 1820s. That colonial period ended when Muhammad Ahmed, a Sudanese sufi who claimed to be al-Mahdi (divinely ordained savior), led a nationalist/ religious revolt that took control of most of the country by 1884. It is pertinent to note here that the Mahdi movement along the Nile valley was in the tradition of the Islamic jihad reform movements along the Sahil region of West Africa, as outlined in the previous chapter. But that brief phase of independence was plagued by constant civil wars, military campaigns , and famine, until the Mahdist state was destroyed thirteen years later by a British-Egyptian consequent of the country that was rationalized as "recovering Egypt's possessions in Sudan." Since Britain was occupying Egypt itself at the time, as a "protectorate," and had led the conquest of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in 1898, it also dominated the joint colonial administration (called Condominium in the 1898 Agreement of the two colonial powers). Sudan gained independence from AngloEgyptian colonial rule onJanuary 1, 1956. Less than two years after independence, General Ibrahim Aboud lead a military coup on November 17,1958, suspended the 1956 Transitional Constitution, dismantled the English-model parliamentary system, and ruled by decree for the next six years. That constitution was restored, however, as the Transitional Amended Constitution of 1964, when a determined civilian uprising, supported by some army officers, forced the military junta out of government, and reestablished civilian government under an elected parliament. But that second attempt at establishing constitutional government was once again abruptly terminated by the second military coup of May 25, 1969 led by ColonelJaafar Numeiri, which forced out the elected government of Prime Minister Saddiq alMahdi , the grandson of the founder of the Mahdist state of 1884-98. The second military junta transformed their military regime into a single party state under what they called...

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